


Knitting 101

by Emmamariii



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, F/F, F/M, Fanatical Fam's Holiday Fic Exchange 2020, Fluff, Podcast: Fanatical Fics and Where to Find Them, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28263843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmamariii/pseuds/Emmamariii
Summary: Angelina and George have become close friends, nothing more. But when George needs help with a Christmas present and Angelina comes to his aid, this might be about to change.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/George Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6
Collections: Fanatical Fam's: Holiday Fic Exchange





	Knitting 101

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Violetweasley19](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violetweasley19/gifts).



> Written for the Fanatical Fam's Holiday Fic Exchange 2020. Merry Christmas Violetweasley19!

1999 - 2 weeks before Christmas 

„You will never guess who I just ran into!” Angelina looked up from her book as the apartment door shut loudly and her roommate entered their kitchen. Katie’s woollen hat was covered in snow. As was the Gryffindor scarf she now started to unwrap. “Who? I did not think you’d meet anybody so early in the morning.” Angelina put down the book and picked up the coffee mug that had been sitting on the table in front of her. She took a sip and watched Katie unload her various bags of Christmas shopping onto the kitchen counter and the round table. “You know that I just popped into ‘Quality Quidditch Supplies’ to get this book we wanted to give Oli for Christmas… well I ran into Demelza… she’s helping out as a shop assistant during the holiday season!” “Demelza? Ohh…she was the chaser in your 7th year, right?”, Angelina said, now remembering where she had heard the girl’s name before. Katie poured herself a cup of coffee and quickly waved her wand to reheat it before sitting down on the opposite site of their table. “Yeah… she was good! And apparently, she is pursuing it! She and Ginny are training together for the U21 national team! Also, she was super helpful and friendly and..”, Katie tugged her knees up against her chest, warming her hands on the cup. Angelina eyed her friend closely. “Katie…did you just blush?”, she asked teasingly. Katie now definitely blushed. “Uhhh…you find her cute!”, Angelina laughed now. “Well… she is!”, Katie laughed as well, hiding her blush behind the mug. “But… you now… I bet she has a super cool boyfriend with lots of quidditch muscles and stuff.” “Or she does not! Maybe you should just ask her. From everything you told me about her from back at school, she seems like a nice person. And it’s been a while since you had a date and it’s Christmas soon and why not!” Katie tucked a strand of her long brown hair back and looked at her best friend with an unsure grin. “You know…I don’t know about asking her out just out of the blue, but I could… theoretically… go back to the shop and pretend I need another present? I mean we did forget Oli’s birthday, didn’t we? And as his and Perc’s engagement must be mere days away now… we should have a present ready for that, shouldn’t we?” “Oh, we absolutely should!”, Angelina replied laughing. The young witch shot a glance at the clock over the doorway. “Ohhhh, shoot. Katie, I wholeheartedly support this plan, but I have to run! I have the afternoon shift at ‘artifact accidents’…” She jumped up from her chair and rushed over to her room where she stared exchanging her fuzzy jumper and the leggings she had been wearing all morning for more practical jeans and the dark green robes worn by all healers in training at St. Mungo’s. She had started her apprentice ship almost one and a half years ago, right in the summer after the war. And although the war itself had made her painfully aware that healing was a valuable profession, her wish to work at St. Mungo’s predated this dark time. Both her parents were trained healers and currently working abroad for ‘Healers without borders’ and from a young age on she had found herself sharing their passion for healing potions and magical diseases. Angelina had worked hard to gather the necessary N.E.W.T.S. and had even managed to secure an O in DADA despite Umbridge’s regime of terror in her last year of school. But her plans to spend one year traveling and then apply for an apprentice ship had been waylaid by the rise of Voldemort. With a muggle-born mother, Angelina, her parents and her younger brother Leo had been forced into hiding. Luckily, they had been able to leave the country early enough and the whole family had stayed with Mr. Jones’ sister in France for almost 8 months, only returning for the final battle. Angelina now had finished changing and hurriedly pulled her long black and curly hair in a ponytail. She tipped her wand against it and a rubber band neatly wrapped itself around the top, securing it for a long day of work. She stashed the wand in the inside pocket of her robes and hurried back into the kitchen. Katie still sat at the table, dreamily staring out of the kitchen window. “Don’t you have some more Quidditch supplies to shop?”, Angelina asked while stepping over to the fireplace in their living room and grabbing a hand of floo powder out of the old jar on the mantel piece. Katie stuck out her tongue at her friend. “Stop buggering me! I’ll leave as soon as you’re gone, I promise! Have a good shift and don’t stay too late! You know that George is coming over for pizza night!” Angelina threw the floo powder into the flames which instantly turned bright green “St. Mungo’s entrance hall.”, she said as she stepped into the fire and vanished. 

*****

The smell of pizza already filled the flat when Angelina stepped out of the fireplace later that day. She could hear Katie and George chatting in the kitchen and went to join them. Katie was sitting at the table, her back to the door while George was leaning against the countertop, his red hair muzzled by the wind and snow outside. They both looked up and smiled as Angelina entered. “Hi! How was work?”, Katie exclaimed, beaming. “It was alright. Already two incidents with rogue Christmas trees and the Holiday season just started! How was yours?” she replied, suggestively raising her eyebrows at her friend. “Did you find any… lovely Quidditch supplies?” Katie blushed while George laughed. “What did I miss?” he asked. “Our little Katie ran into an old friend today…and I left her with the mission to ask her out.”, Angelina grinned. “Were you successful?” “Actually, I was!”, Katie announced proudly. “And uhm…she might have said yes and… ok… so…I know it’s pizza night but I may or may not have promised to pick Demelza up in 20 minutes to go for a beer.”, Katie blushed even more. “Is that okay for you?”, she asked, looking back and forth between her friends. “Of course!”, George replied while checking on the pizza. “You go have fun and Angelina and I will watch tons of ‘Friends’ without you!” “Oh, you would not dare!”, Katie shot him an evil glance but could not quite keep the smile of her face. “It’s fine, Katie! Go have fun and we can find something else to watch, right George?”, Angelina reassured her. 10 minutes later Katie was out of the door, a piece of pizza in hand and the excitement clearly visible on her face, while Angelina and George retracted to the sofa in the living room with the remaining pizza and a bottle of butterbeer each. These pizza and ‘Friends’ nights had become a regular thing over the course of the last year. Ever since Katie and Angelina had moved into their flat in Muggle London, George had visited at least once per week sometimes with Lee in tow. The girls suspected that his own flat over his shop still felt a bit lonely without his twin brother. Having spent most of their Hogwarts days together Katie and Angelina loved having George back in their life on a regular basis. They had become just as close as back in school over the last months, sharing pizza and beer, watching Muggle movies and shows and visiting Alicia together who was currently in New York interning at the International Wizarding Congregation. Now George flopped down on the large sofa and grabbed the remote. A loud purr was audible as Katie’s tabby cat Minni (Yes, of course named after Minerva) jumped down from the windowsill and sauntered over to sit on George’s lap. “You know we should continue Friends! Katie deserves it after deserting us here...all alone!”, George said mischievously. “You’re mean, George Weasly! Katie did not have a date in such a long time and Demelza seems like a super sweet girl! Be nice!”, Angelina sternly replied, while taking her current knitting out of a basket next to the sofa. “What are you making?”, George inspected the red and golden mess of wool Angelina now sorted through. “Oh, just a jumper for Leo for Christmas. Did I tell you he made the team this year?” “You did! Quidditch talent must run in the family! What do you want to watch then?” he helped himself to a piece of pizza and tried to take a bite while keeping it out of Minnie’s reach. “I think we have some Christmas movies lying around somewhere. I feel like I need some peaceful Holiday spirit after these monstrous trees today!” Angelina sighed and pulled out her wand to bewitch her needles. They started quietly clacking away next to her while she reached for the pizza. They decided on ‘Home alone’ and leaned back to enjoy their pizza. “How does that work anyway?”, George asked some 20 minutes into the movie, leaning over to Angelina to inspect her knitting that was still working independently in the air beside her. His leg brushed up against hers. “Like, could I do that, too?” “Well, you have to know how it works.”, Angelina paused the movie and yawned. “Like, you have to learn how to actually knit without magic and then you can bewitch the needles. Otherwise you just end up with lots of tangled yarn!” “Hmm.” George replied, apparently in thoughts and leaned back into the cushions, now sitting slightly closer to her than before. She wondered why she even noticed that. They shared a sofa every week. But usually Katie was there with them, maybe it was that… or… She forced her thoughts back to the movie and they finished it, occasionally interrupting to discuss how all the movies problems could have been easily solved by magic. When the credits started rolling, Angelina got up to clean away the leftovers, waving her wand here and there until everything was back at its place. When she returned from the living room, she found George inspecting the now half-finished jumper, Minnie asleep on his lap. “Do you want to learn how to knit?”, she asked jokingly. “Maybe!”, he smiled at her, obviously thinking something over. Angelina watched him from the door as he carefully removed the sleeping cat from his legs. It dawned on her that this was probably the first time the two of them were alone since… since before everything basically. Maybe that was what had irritated her earlier. They had been close friends and teammates for years and they had kept in contact when the twins opened their shop after school. And then there had been the few weeks where they had… gone out? Dated? She was not sure what the right terminology was here. But they had met. Just the two of them. Just a couple of times in the spring of ‘97 and it had felt good and right and like the start of something. But then Dumbledore had died. And she had fled the country. And Fred had died. And everything had changed. Angelina forced her thoughts away from these dark corners of her mind and back into the dimly lit room where George was now getting ready to floo home. “What are you thinking about, Jones?”, he asked. She caught his eye and for a split second she felt like he knew what she had just been contemplating. “Christmas shopping?”, she replied, trying to sound convincing. “Oh, don’t fool me. You get that little crease between your brows when you’re overthinking something.”, he remarked teasingly. “I hope you don’t worry about Katie. She’ll be fine and they will have a wonderful time, I’m sure!” He crossed the room over to her and hugged her goodbye before grabbing a handful of floo powder. “Any plans next week?”, he asked before stepping into the flames. Angelina shook her head. “Great, I might owl you tomorrow!” And with a last grin and a swoosh he was gone. 

*****

The following day was a Saturday which meant that both Katie and Angelina were off work. Saturday mornings were dedicated to long breakfasts, reading and drinking coffee, especially when it was 1°C outside and still slightly snowing. Angelina had heard Katie come in late last night and was not surprised to find that her roommate was still asleep when she entered the kitchen just past 9am. She pointing her wand at the kettle that immediately started to boil, took her french press out of the cupboard and spooned coffee into it. While she set out two mugs and got the pumpkin juice out of the fridge, Angelina let her mind wander. From her work at St. Mungo’s to George to the Christmas card her parents had sent from far away to her brother who was in his third year in Hogwarts and who would spend Christmas in the castle this year and again back to George. She poured the boiling water over the ground coffee beans, pointed her wand at one of the chairs that obediently transfigured into a cosy armchair and could not help but wonder if he too had realised what she had realised yesterday. Or was it simply too long ago now? With a sigh, she snuggled into the armchair and picked up the book she had brought from her room “Tranfiguration accidents – First aid for emergencies”. Minni strolled over from the sitting room and jumped onto her armrest while Angelina kept staring at the book in her lap. Sure, she had dated other guys after George and she was not even sure that they had, in fact, dated at all. They had kissed. And it had been the best feeling in the world to her. But it had all ended so suddenly. Plus, they had such a stable friendship now that he surely did not think of her like that anymore. Or did he? She shook her head and opened her book, banning the redhead from her thoughts. 5 minutes later she pressed down the plunger and poured steaming coffee into her favourite mugs featuring various magical plants. “I thought I smelled coffee”, came a sleepy voice from the door. Katie entered the kitchen, still in her Holyhead Harpies pyjamas and hair in a messy bun on top of her head. She sat down in the second armchair that Angelina had quickly provided and reached for the mug her roommate held out for her. “Sooooo?”, Angelina asked, not even trying to hold back her curiosity. Katie hid her face behind the mug but her smile was clearly visible nonetheless: “It was great! We went to that little pub in Soho, the one we went to for Lee’s birthday last month? We talked so much and then we went for a walk in the snow before we got back to the Leaky Cauldron so she could apparate home. She’s living with her parents but she’s looking for a place in London!” “Oh, Katie that sounds so like an amazing night!”, Angelina replied, smiling at her friend across the table. “Tell me everything!” Once their mugs were empty Katie had provided sufficient information on her date to calm Angelina’s curiosity. “But what about your night? Did you two have a good evening?” There was a certain undertone in her voice that indicated that Katie, too, had realised that her two friends had not spent time just the two of them for quite a while. “It was nice.”, Angelina replied non-committedly, “we watched a Christmas movie and talked about knitting, oddly enough. But nothing special really.” “Hmmhm.”, Katie shot her a glance. “Do you ever still think about him… you know.. that way? I mean it’s been a while but…” She was interrupted by a tapping on the kitchen window. It was a barn owl wearing a tiny Santa head. The girls both grinned as the owl was clearly displeased by the dress-up. Angelina got up and opened the window. “Hi there, pretty one! So festive!” She offered the owl a treat while she untied the note from her leg. It was addressed to her and said in a sloppy handwriting “Jones! I know you are working early shifts next week so pleaaaase can you come by the shop Monday after closing time and help me with something? It’s a Christmas emergency! G” Slightly puzzled she turned to Katie and gave her the note. Katie looked none the wise. “But you’re going, right?”, she asked. “I guess so? Christmas emergency? I swear if it’s a stupid prank…”

*****

By Monday evening most of the weekend’s snow had turned into brown slosh and even the cooling charms several shop owners on Diagonally had placed over it could not prevent the masses of Christmas shoppers from trampling it. Angelina walked down the street until she reached the brightly lit “Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes”. She tried to convince herself that there was nothing to be nervous about. Just a normal evening with normal friends. Not anything more. But he had not asked Katie to come along. Katie always came along. Trying to stomp the remains of snow off her boots and with it her unfounded nervousness she pushed the door open. George was manning the counter and was just giving tips on how to best take care of a pygm puff to the last customer of the day. He looked up as she stepped in and his face lit up as he saw her. She could not help but smile back and felt her heartbeat quicken just a little. Once the wizard had left with several pink pygm puffs, George hurried over and hugged her tightly, despite her still wet coat. He seemed a bit flustered, just like she felt. George led her through a doorway behind the counter and up the stairs into his flat, while inquiring about her weekend and her morning shift. She told him about the emergency they had today with the Santa hat that made you sing Christmas songs as soon as you put in on, which had left a whole family from Kent with such hoarsness that they were unable to the perform the spell necessary to remove the hat. He laughed and she was surprised to realise how much she liked the sound of his laughter. Georges flat was tidy but sparsely furnished and had a somewhat unpersonal air about it. Several cardboard boxes were tugged away in the corners, not doubt holding products for the store. George told her to get comfortable on the sofa, while he went to the kitchen to find something to drink. As Angelina settled down, she tried her best to focus her thoughts. She heard George laugh every week, why did it suddenly feel so different? Was it the overall romantic and christmassy mood? Was it the fact that they suddenly were alone? And was it sensible to give these feelings any consideration at all? Before she could consider these questions further, George came back with to steaming mugs and plunged down next to her on the sofa. Close next to her. “I hope you like hot chocolate.” “Hot chocolate sounds perfect!”, she replied. “What’s the emergency then?” To her surprise he blushed slightly, and his reply came hesitantly. “So um…you know how I asked you about knitting the other day? I wonder if you could maybe… show me?” “Sure! It’s not that hard really and I feel like you might get the hang of it quickly! What do you want to knit?” He definitely looked uncomfortable, but she smiled at him encouragingly and he continued “It’s a stupid idea maybe. Bit pathetic really but…you know how our mum makes sweaters for everyone each Christmas?” Angelina nodded. “I thought… maybe… she never makes one for herself and… maybe I could make one for her this year. If you help me that is?” He met her eye and a shy smile showed on his face. “I think it’s a sweet idea George! But a sweater takes time, even with magic so no promise we can finish it tonight.” His face lit up at her approval and some of the usual confidence returned into his voice. “I thought… if it goes well, we could maybe meet a couple of times for this. If you want!” He blushed for real this time and Angelina wondered if he could have more in mind than a knitting club, but she just nodded and he jumped up from the sofa, excited now. “I’ll get the wool! I did not know what we need exactly but the lady in the shop was so sweet and I might have bought a lot!” 10 minutes later they sat on the sofa side by side, both with a pair of needles and chunky yarn. Angelina explained the basic left and right stitches and George sat close to her, watching her hands as she moved needles and yarn. She felt his shoulder pressed into hers and though his closeness made it harder to move the needles, she did not back away. The feeling was too nice and she decided to not explore further what that implied just now. Angelina had been right, George got the hang of it quickly and after almost an hour had produced a somewhat irregular square. He held it up proudly then dropped his knitting and leant back into the sofa. “This is harder than expected.”, he complaint jokingly. Angelina leaned back at well and for a short moment, he rested his head on her shoulder. She felt her heartbeat quicken. They continued knitting - George cursing, Angelina patiently correcting him – until the clock in the kitchen chimed 11pm and Angelina reluctantly got up. “Can we continue tomorrow?”, George asked, tossing his now much more regular square aside and getting up as well. “Sure, I have morning shifts up until Christmas so I’m free every evening.” “Katie said, you’re planning on spending Christmas alone this year?” “I guess, but it’s not a big deal, really. Mum and dad are working and they say it’s the busiest time of the year over there and they don’t want to leave when their help is being needed. And Leo will stay in Hogwarts. But it’s fine really! It’ll be nice to have a few days off after the holiday madness”, she assured as George looked unconvinced. They were standing in front of his fireplace now. He stepped closer and hugged her goodbye, just a little bit longer than usual but enough to set whatever it was that was fluttering in her stomach into a frenzy. 

They met again the next evening. And the evening after that. And every evening of that week. Angelina was not quite sure why or how this had happened, but she knew that every evening she got more and more comfortable on George’s small sofa. The jumper was making serious progress. With just a little magical support, George was working on the sleeves while Angelina had started on the back of the jumper. While knitting they talked about almost everything that came to their mind. Christmas at Hogwarts, annoying customers in the shop, infuriating patients, Lee’s latest podcast episode and Katies 4th date with Demelza. What they did not talk about was, well, them. But Angelina had the feeling that she could no longer quite deny that something was changing between them. She had to stop herself from staring at his robust hands fighting with the yarn, or at his back, still muscular from years as a beater, when he went to the kitchen to get another butterbeer. They sat so close on the sofa now that their yarns kept tangling and more than once her mind wandered to the few afternoons and nights they had spent together years ago. What was more was that she could not shake the feeling that George’s thoughts were going to similar places. More than once he caught him looking at her instead of knitting himself. And more than once he seemed on the verge of saying something but then thought better of it. Sometimes their eyes met, just a second longer than necessary. And sometimes their hands touched over the chaos of yarn and needles and lingered just a moment. Angelina returned home just a couple minutes later each night. And their hugs lasted just a little bit longer each night. 

*****

Angelina put down her clipboard. Still 5 days to go until Christmas and already the emergencies due to cursed presents were skyrocketing. She had been up and about for 6 hours already and was looking forward to a short break in the staff room when someone called her name. “Angelina! Over here!” The shout came from Ginny Weasley, who’s cheeriness seemed unfazed by the giant cask around her left arm. She was waving from a hospital bed, still in muddy Quidditich ropes. Angelina stifled a laugh. Aspiring players came to St. Mungos almost on a weekly basis. She walked over to the girl’s bed and sat down hat the end. “Who did you crash into this time?”, she asked. “Teptalov moves.. you know the one where you pretend to run into the goal posts… turns out you have to break way earlier. But it’s fine, I’ll guess it will be healed in an hour or so. How’s your shift?” “Holiday madness”, Angelina replied with an exaggerated sigh, “I wish people would stop sending each other cursed socks that tickle the feet. Where do you even get that stuff?” “Sounds like something my dear brother would sell! You should check with him!”, Ginny snorted but asked rather inquiringly, “Speaking of my lovely brother… I’ve heard you have seen quite a lot of each other lately?” Angelina could not help it, she immediately felt her cheeks warm. ”Did he..uhm… mention that…yeah?” She tried not to sound like she wanted to know exactly what he might have said… even though she had to admit, she did. “He did in fact!”, Ginny shot her a questioning glance. “He said you were helping him with something Christmas related…Look I know this is a bit… direct but I know you two used to date and I thought… maybe… I just think it’s nice that you two are spending so much time together. I guess he gets a bit lonely in his shop. And he likes you.” “He does?”, Angelina had asked before she could stop herself and now looked down slightly embarrassed. So maybe she had not imagined those little signs after all. She tried to meet Ginny’s gaze and was relieved to see her grin. “I’m sure he does. And I feel like he wants to invite you for Christmas, he said you were planning on spending it alone?” “Yeah… my parents are abroad and my brother is at school. But I would not want to intrude…” “Nonsense!”, Ginny shook her head, “Percy will bring Oli and Hermione and Harry will be there. It will be fun, I promise! Just… maybe give him a chance to ask. I know he’s not showing it often but he’s not always that sure of himself.” Before Angelina could reply, a healer bustled over to Ginny’s side “Let’s have a look how these fractures are coming along, shall we?” Angelina stood up and got ready to leave. “See you at the burrow!”, Ginny smiled up to her.

*****

“And you’re absolutely sure you don’t want to come with me?” Katie stood in front of their fireplace, two bags full of presents and a suitcase by her side. “I’ll be fine!”, Angelina reassured her and came over to hug her best friend goodbye. “I have tons of books to read, Minnie will keep me company and George is coming over tonight to finish the jumper.” Katie grinned up to her friend. “Just to finish the jumper or…” Angelina laughed though she felt her cheeks glow…again. This was becoming annoyingly frequent. “Just the jumper! And I’ll promise I’ll owl you if not… or if I get lonely.” Katie reached for the floo powder. “Fine… and I’ll be back on the 27th with tons of leftovers!” And with that she heaved her bags into the now green flames and jumped in after them. Angelina barely had managed to clean away the plates and mugs from their dinner when the flames turned green again and George stepped out into the living room, packed with the almost finished jumper and a tin of biscuits that had obviously been sent by Mrs. Weasley. He sat everything down on the table in front of the sofa and came over to the kitchen to hug her. Angelina held her breath as she felt the stubbles of his beard against her cheek and relaxed into his embrace. They settled down on the sofa. The jumper was almost done. They had chosen a midnight blue yarn and even the sleeves made by George only had a few tiny holes in them. All that was missing was the traditional letter on the front. George held up two different yarn. “What do you think? Silver for the letter? Or gold? Or I might have white somewhere?” They decided on gold, Angelina got a needle and was just about to show him how to duplicate stitch the golden M when George interrupted her explanation. “Angelina?” “What? Should I show you again?” He cleared his throat. “No, it’s fine. I got it, I guess. It’s just… Can I ask you something? Something not yarn-related?” Angelina put down jumper and needle, wondering what he was getting it. He looked nervous. “I know you’re fine with spending Christmas alone but…uhm. I guess I was wondering if you want to come to the burrow anyway. With me, I mean. As… my date?” Angelina’s heart pounded quickly. Though talking with Ginny had somewhat prepared her for that, she had never really believed he would ask. “Yes, George…I’d loved that.”

A/N: The jumper for Mrs. Weasley turned out wonderful! And you might call it motherly intuition, but when Angelina woke up in George’s bedroom on the morning of the 25th there was already a chunky present waiting for her at the foot of her bed. A cosy, light blue jumper with a silvery A on the front.


End file.
